Saturday, April 18, 2015

Children, do you know where your teachers are?

If you're a schoolkid in the state of Washington, and you know your educationist history, sure you do;

According to a news release from the statewide teachers union, 2,600
teachers in eight districts throughout the state have voted to stage
one-day walkouts during the final days of the legislative session,
scheduled to end April 26. More local unions may decide to join the
strikes soon, according to the release from the Washington Education
Association.

WEA spokesman Rich Wood said that schools will shut
down for the day in those districts where the unions have decided to go
on strike.

Inconveniencing how many thousands of children and their parents? Not to mention breaking the law, as it's illegal for public employees to organize strikes in the state. But public employees make campaign contributions and very few school kids do, so ....

Besides, it's something of a tradition now;

In 1990, the WEA announced a one-day strike in which more than 25,000
teachers statewide either skipped work, left early or held rallies to
argue for higher salaries and smaller class sizes....

The
next year, more than 20,000 teachers statewide went on an extended
strike while lawmakers were in session. During the strike, about 13,000
teachers rallied at the Capitol seeking better raises and higher school
funding, causing then-governor [Booth] Gardner to send lawmakers home for a
seven-week “cooling off” period between legislative sessions.

More
recently, teachers unions staged strikes in 1999 to protest salary
levels, holding several rallies at the Capitol to ask for a 15 percent
pay raise.